(( This is a slight backlog. Slight. ))
=/\= USS-Charon, Counselor Morgan's Quarters =/\=
Christopher had been in situations just as bad before. He was proud of his ability to remain calm and focused in times of crisis. So it was a little difficult to explain why he was huddled behind his couch in his quarters, defenseless, without knowing much more than what was outside his window or what he heard over the intercom. And what he learned from either definitely was not good. Christopher thought of how desperate he must seem, huddled behind a piece of furniture like a scared mouse. He especially wondered what his friend J'tok would say. J'tok was half Klingon and half Andorian, and he served with Christopher on Celes 5. He'd probably throw all kinds of Klingon insults at me, all meaning I was a coward and worse, thought Christopher. Christopher wondered what J'tok would do in this situation. Probably get himself killed, a prospect he seemed excited about on many occasions. Well Christopher wasn't nearly as fascinated with the idea of his glorious death in combat…
J'tok! Why was he thinking about J'tok?! He had to stay calm and focused. But he knew this was a way his mind dealt with extreme trauma, by not dealing with it and sending him into the safe recesses of his own mind. It was alarming though how he seemed unable to control his state of mind right now. Were he not a Starfleet officer and an average Federation citizen, no one would blame him for being scared. Why with Romulans – Romulans! He couldn't help but imagine an armed invasion force of Shiarrael's. Hopefully these Romulans were more… more anything, just not as fierce as he knew Shiarrael could be - And aside from the invasion force, just outside the window above him a whole fleet it seemed of Romulan ships was visible. This was, indeed, a scary situation.
And to add to the terror, exactly as the Romulans intened, he was sure, he just couldn't help but imagine what must have been going through that young officer's mind who was thrown out an airlock in cold blood – he had seen her body shoot past his window – the absolute horror – and the screams he heard over the intercom that he could not get out of his head. What was even worse was how her screaming abruptly ended once the airlock was opened. Luckily Christopher couldn't see her face as she jettisoned across his living room view… well, maybe not so lucky. His imagination was sure to conjure up much worse expressions on her face than there really was. What troubled Christopher was the opposite, however. That nothing he imaged could come close to realizing the horror and pain she suffered. – Who was she, anyway? Christopher had met many fine young female officers since his arrival on the Charon, and two he did a little bit more with than just meeting. Christopher shivered throughout his body. Whoever she was, Christopher was sure to be counseling her friends and witnesses of her death for months.
And there it happened again! I need to focus, thought Christopher. He had managed to evade capture after Shiarrael surrendered – a move that frankly surprised him, but he was not privy to the negotiations to really make a judgment. All he knew was that he had a potential strategic advantage. The Romulans didn't seem to know he was there, and that meant he could go, possibly, on the offense. To what end he definitely wasn't sure. He remembered his hand-to-hand combat training lessons he had on the Sydney – with no weapons, those skills were sure to become useful.
As quietly as he could, Christopher crawled over to his computer station. Fortunately, the computer seemed to be online. Not risking a voice command, he entered his request for internal sensors, and, for the first time, he used his command override code aboard the Charon. What he saw wasn't encouraging. There were two Romulans on either end of the corridor outside his quarters. Christopher changed the view to a schematic of the entire ship. It was flooded with green dots everywhere, indicating Romulans. Clearly this would be much more complicated than he thought.
After much deliberation Christopher resolved to stay in his quarters until he could think of something or a couple of Romulans decided to abandon his deck, which wasn't likely.
That's when he heard Shiarrael's voice over the intercom. "This is the Captain. Have pride in your ship and faith in your fellow crew…" For the first time since coming aboard the Charon, Christopher was actually relieved to hear Shiarrael's words. They were unusually… comforting.
Take back the ship. That meant it was time to move. For the first time Christopher felt like he belonged on the Charon, and he was a proud member of her fine crew.
He knew there was access to a Jeffrie's tube just across from his quarters. Now he just needed to figure out a way to get there.
=/\= End Log =/\=
Ensign
Christopher Morgan
Chief Counselor
USS Charon
